The Canadian Triple Crown, which started in 1959, keeps several classic characteristics of the international series: it shares the Racing distances of the individual races with the US Triple Crown, and it is limited to three-year-olds, as was the original English Triple Crown. However, there are significant differences between the Canadian Triple Crown and other Triple Crown series worldwide. The Canadian series is open to colts, fillies, and geldings that are not eligible to participate in any other Triple Crown event. Second, the Canadian Triple Crown races are staged on diverse surfaces, putting each runner’s ability to adapt to shifting conditions to the test.
What is the Order of the Triple Crown races? The Triple Crown races are listed in the following Order:
- The Queen’s Plate
- The Prince of Wales Stakes
- Breeders’ Cup
The Queen’s Plate, the first race in the Canadian Triple Crown series, celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2009, making it North America’s oldest thoroughbred horse event. The race takes place in June on the Polytrack at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, and lasts 14 miles.
The Prince of Wales is on the second leg. Stakes were established in 1929 and were run for 30 years before the Canadian Triple Crown. The race is run over 9 12 furlongs on a dirt track at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. The winning three-year-old will get a $500,000 prize.
The Breeders’ Stakes, the last leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, has been conducted since 1889 and is the longest race in the series, at one and a half miles. It is contested on Turf, a hitherto ignored surface in the series, and the winner wins $500,000. The Breeders’ Crown is the series’ defining event; five contenders have won the first two races only to meet their match in the gruelling Breeders’ Crown. The August race is one of the most anticipated events of the racing season in Canada.
The Canadian Triple Crown Hosts
The Fort Erie Race Track was built in Ontario, Canada, on June 16, 1897. The racetrack is popularly referred to as “the border oval”. Its most important race is the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
The Fort Erie Jockey Club established the Fort Erie Race Track on June 16, 1897. It was formerly owned by the Cella family, who also controlled Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. In 1952, they sold it on behalf of the Ontario Jockey Club to famed Canadian horseman E. P. Taylor. Before its acquisition, Fort Erie was classified as a “shabby” facility with just 14 days of racing each year.
Woodbine Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Toronto, Ontario, Canada’s Etobicoke neighbourhood. Woodbine Racetrack, which Woodbine Entertainment Group owns, manages and hosts Canada’s most prestigious race, the King’s Plate. The track opened in 1956 with a one-mile oval dirt track and a seven-eighth grass circuit. Since 1994, it has had three racetracks and has been entirely renovated.
The Taylor has a 1-mile (1.6 km) synthetic Thoroughbred course. Tapeta has been the surface since April 9, 2016; before that, it was Polytrack from August 31, 2006, to 2015, then a natural dirt surface. [16] Races at seven furlongs [.875 miles (1.408 km)] and 1.25 miles are feasible thanks to two chutes (2.01 km).
International Triple Crown Racehorse Series
Triple Crown series races for three-year-old thoroughbreds are held across the globe, including one in Canada, which was inaugurated in 1959. The most well-known and recognised Triple Crown is that of the United States, although the Canadian version varies from others in that it has the same race lengths as those held in America and allows geldings to compete. Many Triple Crown series, including one in Europe, exclude geldings from participating in critical flat races. The Canadian Triple Crown is unique in contested on three different surfaces. Only the finest and most versatile runners will win this famous event because of the distance and track surface differences.
The Canadian Triple Crown begins with the Queen’s Plate. It is held in June at the Woodbine racecourse in Ontario and is worth CAN $ 1 million. The Prince of Wales Stakes raced in July, marking the season’s the halfway point. This event is one-third mile on a dirt track at the Fort Erie Racecourse in Ontario, and it is worth CAN $500 000. The Breeder’s Stakes, run over a mile, is the third and final race in the series. It is the Triple Crown’s longest race. This race, contested in August on a turf course at Woodbine’s E. P. Taylor Course, offers the same prize money as the Prince of Wales Stakes, CAN $500 000.
Canadian Triple Crown – Previous Winners
There have only been seven horses in Canadian history that have won the Triple Crown. The winners are listed below, along with the year they won and their rider, trainer, and owner names. Queensway was the first horse to unofficially win all three legs of the Triple Crown in 1932. However, since the Triple Crown title had not yet been formed, the Canadian Jockey Club did not recognise her as a Triple Crown winner. Given this, just one filly, Dance Smartly, won the Triple Crown in 1991.
Several talented horses have come close to winning the Triple Crown, winning the first two legs but falling short in the Breeders’ Stakes. There have been seven Canadian Triple Crown champions since the series debuted in 1959: New Providence in 1959, Canberra in 1963, With Approval in 1989, Izvestia in 1990, Dance Smartly in 1991, Peteski in 1993, and Wando in 2003. Roger Attfield, the most successful trainer in the Canadian Triple Crown series, trained three wins, Peteski, Izvestia, and With Approval.
The Triple Crown is the Jewel in the Crown of Canadian Horseracing. The Three Legs are run on different courses, on different dates, and over varying distances, and it takes a great horse to win all three races. If it were not difficult to win, it would not be the pinnacle of the Horseracing Calendar in Canada. True Champions only win the Triple Crown.